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Come to think of it, we also know Eggsy was a first rate gymnast as a kid and that he was a Royal Marine for a short time. Colin Firth recounts this in the pub when he asks Eggsy why he hasn't done anything with his life. Surely that is enough foundation for the Kingsmen to build upon and turn him into a crackerjack fighter in no time !

Watched Jupiter Ascending (2015)
4/5 (amazon 3.2/5 even split, imdb 5.5/10, rotten tomatoes 25%, AVS Ralph Potts: 1.5/5)
The reviews for this film were so abysmal I almost skipped it. I watched it after being up for 36 hours and really enjoyed it.
I bought the 3D, but since this film wasn’t shot natively in 3D but was converted in post-production, and I dislike post-production 3D, I watched it in 2D
In retrospect there are lots of plot elements that are a little weak, and the ending is too.
But the premise, that there exists a bunch of 100,000 year old humans with great technology who harvest/cull planetfulls of human beings, was differently enough done that it appeared new (as opposed to Dracula Vampires, Stargate Atlantis's Wraith, Lifeforce (1985) )
Lots of familiar plot elements: young poor individual discovers they have a hitherto unknown gift, and rises with the help of mentors to realize that gift (Star Wars, Matrix, various Greek Mythology)
The ships are reminiscent of John Carter (2012), with wings attached by unseen forces rather than physical materials (steel, nuts & bolts). The Sims are reminiscent of virtually every android movie in the past decade.
Major character Balem Abrasax (played by Eddie Redmayne) is as un-connectable and boring as Shinzon of Star Trek Nemesis (2002).
When Stinger Apini is going through the warhammers, his eye movements are not remotely quick enough for what's going on. They're more the speed of a 60-year-old, which the actor Sean Bean is getting close to being, than a genetically engineered warrior. He was built with gene splicing bee DNA to give him wings, speed, special vision -- but there's little evidence of any of that.
Budget $176 million, spent by Andy and Lana Wachowski (of the Matrix). Box office gross: 47 million
The cinematography of the movie is first class
"The flaw (one of many) with Jupiter Ascending is they took many scenes directly from other sources and put them together in this beautiful mess."

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Review: Jupiter Ascending Is The Worst Movie Ever Go See It Immediately

Watched Project Almanac (2015)
2.5/5 (amazon 3.2/5 love it hate it, imdb 6.3/10, rotten tomatoes 34%/47%, AVS Ralph Potts: 2.5/5)
A time travel movie. Overall, it's at least as good as Battlefield Earth.
A group of high school students discover the primary part of a time-travel machine, build the rest, and travel, only to find out that by fiddling with their teen-age problems they have changed the course of history and caused lethal accidents to happen.
Overall, not a great film, only a must see if you're into time travel films. Many seem to be complaining about the 'found footage' style of film making, but it didn't bother me since several times the abundance of footage is used to revisit past events they were at and discover things they didn't see.
Might be a teen flick too. So if you're old enough, you'll have to put up with that.
Unlike Back To The Future, the damaged timeline's catalysts are more complex and not explained with crude yet marvelous models and clarity.
They never did explain why sometimes time-jumped things moved in 3D space, and sometimes they reappeared in the same spot.
Lots of complaints about the science, not the time travel device itself since that's not explained suggesting that it's a 10-year-old DARPA lost miracle, but the techno jargon about the normal consumer-grade equipment is wrong.
Budget: $12,000,000

An amateur built the Ark. Titanic was built by professionals. Of course Noah took a little advice.

A few days back I watched the special features of Midway (1976) -- which is a great film that stole all its wonderful footage from lots of other places -- and one of them was talking about "Sensurround". In the 1970s, there was no way to accurately record bass lower than 40 Hz on an optical or magnetic film soundtrack. So they installed 1,600 watt speakers with huge wooden horns, sometimes removing the first few rows of seats to make room. The movie had two low frequency control tones printed on the film's mono optical track, which in turn activated a circuit produced pseudorandom noise signal (aka rumble) with energy between 17 and 120 Hz which in turn was fed to amplifiers and the Sensurround speakers.

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From the outset, Earthquake (1974) was designed to be an event film, ultimately settling on the Sensurround gimmick. But at one point, it was seriously entertained that chunks of polystyrene should be dropped on the unsuspecting viewers during the quake itself.

Sensurround was only used three more times, on the films Midway (1976), Rollercoaster (1977) and Battlestar Galactica (1978).

There were documented cases of nosebleeds occurring amongst audience members because of the Sensurround system.

As part of a new marketing gimmick to promote action and disaster movies in the 70's, theaters were asked to install a new audio system called Sensurround. Sensurround produced a low frequency sound vibration along theater seats giving an audience the feeling of being in the movie. For "Earthquake", when there was an earthquake, Sensurround would vibrated the seats like an actual earthquake. Unfortunately the speaker system was a custom job that often required removing a couple of rows of seats and it was expensive. It was used for a few more films throughout the rest of the '70s, but after theaters received structural damage, patrons got ill from the experience and nearby businesses complained of noise pollution, Sensurround was basically halted.

The United Artists Theater in Chicago was forced to shut off the Sensurround speakers when small pieces of plaster from the ceiling fell on audience members.
When the movie played at Graumann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood in 1974 it was shown in "Sensurround" with heavy bass speakers set on the floor around the theater. Very soon after the preview performances, a giant net had to be rigged above the patrons because of fear that the ornate ceiling decorations might break loose and fall on the audience below due to the low bass rumble of earthquake sequences. During the film's initial preview performances at the theatre, the Sensurround vibrations actually caused an occasional, very small and harmless piece of plaster or paint to crack and fall down onto the audience. Worried that continuous periods of strong sound waves throughout the film's exclusive run might loosen elements of the ceiling's ornamentation and light fixtures, the theatre management ordered the safety net to be slung below the entire auditorium ceiling, just below the ornamentation. This action was publicized in the local papers. Whether or not the ceiling's very visible "safety net" was an actual, workable safety measure or whether it was merely a publicity gimmick, it did serve to heighten audience anticipation of the film's effects.

the new DVD of "Earthquake" completely misses the boat on the Sensurround track and special features. First of all, the so-called "3.1" Sensurround track is nothing but the same, mono, audio fed to the 3 front channels with the 25/35 Hz control tones on the .1 LFE channel - no rumble is there at all. Nothing of the sort was ever heard in theaters, so I don't know why Universal bothered. It's obvious that the Universal tech's in charge of the DVD audio transfer didn't know that the control tones are NOT the earthquake rumble and are NOT meant to be heard! The 5.1-channel remix is problimatical too. Earthquake was the first feature to use the Sensurround Special Effects System (US Patent #3, 973,839). Because, at the time, audio in theaters and on film was in such a primitive state, MCA/Universal engineers designed a sound system to run along side the theaters existing system. Two control tones, at 25 and 35 Hz, were recorded either on the main soundtrack (for optical prints) or, with stereo Magnetic prints, on the redundant optical soundtrack. Their presence and volume controlled the turning on and off of a low-frequency noise (rumble) generator to create the 'earthquake' effects - they also controlled the addition of the "Center Front" channel (or the composite optical) into the Sensurround channel to create "surround" effects. When desired, the two tones could also increase the volume of ALL the speakers in the theater by a desired amount. While the 4-track magnetic soundtrack had a standard "effects/surround" soundtrack (complete with 12kHz CinemaScope switching tone), in Sensurround equipped theaters, the surround mag track was disconnected and not used at all... instead, the Center Front mag channel was connected into the Sensurround channel to create the 'surround' effects when needed. For non-Sensurround installations that used the Magnetic soundtrack, the 4-track mag had the standard surround soundtrack available. Universal's engineers in charge of the new DVD soundtrack remix do not seem to have known this - none of the sounds from the Center Front channel are used at all in the surround channels, nor is any of the Sensurround rumble taken to the back channels as it should be. In addition to the deep rumble, Sensurround was intended to "Surround and engulf you", which the new 5.1 track does NOT do! The composite mono optical prints, or the mag stereo prints, contained all the information the mixers needed, to know when to direct the sounds, and by how much, from the Center Front into the back channels. They only had to listen to and measure the amounts of 25 and 35 Hz tones! Heck, the old MCA DiscoVision laser videodisc release has the control tones present that we can hear, so anyone could have figured it out! Also, it does not appear that Universal used a Sensurround rumble generator - the bass is nowhere near deep enough - I've measured it and it cuts off around 25 Hz! That's a whole octave higher than it should be! The cut-off frequency that was designed for Sensurround was 16Hz. The bass should be played at a level of 110-120db at those frequencies! To replicate the Sensurround soundtrack on DVD, here's what should have been done:

The "main" channels should have been recorded at a much lower level than usual onto the DVD master. The Sensurround rumble should have been recorded at, or as near as possible, to 0db as they could. This would have allowed them to duplicate Sensurround in the home. It would have required the home viewer to raise their main volume control much higher than usual to hear the soundtrack, thus, when the rumble came along, it would be at it's correct, high, level - and the extra headroom could have been used to raise the level of the main soundtrack during the quake as the original presentation called for. The Center Front should have been mixed into the surrounds as required and the original mag Surround track used too. For viewers who don't have the ability to play the Sensurround track at such high levels, the original 4-track master, without Sensurround, should have been supplied at standard volume as an alternate track. The original mono Sensurround-compatible shouldtrack should have been supplied too as a 1.0 Dolby Digital track.

Contrary to what others claim, Earthquake was the ONLY Stereophonic Sensurround release (Zoot Suit doesn't count) - after Earthquake, Sensurround was modified to place all the effects on an optical mono track with dbx Type-II noise reduction. ALL of the other "Sensurround" DVD releases from Universal get the Sensurround track wrong too - Midway, Battlestar, Rollercoaster - all WRONG! The Sensurround, because of the control tones, would pan from the front to the back of the theater, as required - none of the DVD's duplicate this - it gave them a 'surround-type' soundtrack capability from a standard mono-optical print. Hopefully, future HD-DVD relases will get this right - if Universal would only ask me about it! I have extensive documentation on the Sensurround system and am probably the foremost authority on it in the world.

The basic fidelity and seperation of the 3 front channels is quite good, as is the high-frequency response. Unlike other magnetic stereo films of the era, Earthquake was mixed with mono, meaning Center Front-only, dialogue - other films of the time panned the dialogue across each channel to follow the speaker. The DVD replicates this nicely, although I hate mono dialogue.

The image of "Earthquake" has a bit too much edge enhancement, but is otherwise OK. Sadly, there are NO special features at all, which is a pitty, as there was a wealth of material produced for Earthquake. MCA Universal made a "Sensurround Product Demo Reel" to show theater owners how the system worked and why they should install it in their theater - there were film demo reels to show the total image+sound effect - there were Sensurround encoded trailers - there was deleted footage - the LAX restraunt was actually modeled and filmed collapsing, but the footage wasn't used in the film - in addition, around 10 mintues of footage were deleted shortly before the films release - all of this should have been included on the disc along with photos of the incredible Sensurround horns.

Nonetheless Earthquake remains an interesting film. Even today's California disaster flicks like "2012" don't destroy the city as much.
Just like in Midway, Charlton Heston requested that he die on screen, here in an attempt to save his wife rather than his mistress.

An amateur built the Ark. Titanic was built by professionals. Of course Noah took a little advice.

This film was largely panned by critics upon it's release in 1966. Years later, Tarantino called this movie "the greatest achievement in the history of cinema". Thankfully and amazingly, I've only watched pieces of this movie...probably because it is so long and with commercials it is pushing 4 hours! To watch this in my HT was incredible.

I'd be surprised if many haven't seen this, but it is a masterpiece that must be experienced. Sergio Leone is singular in style with nothing remotely close to compare it to. The poor dubbing somehow add to the character of the film. The music is iconic.

This film was largely panned by critics upon it's release in 1966. Years later, Tarantino called this movie "the greatest achievement in the history of cinema". Thankfully and amazingly, I've only watched pieces of this movie...probably because it is so long and with commercials it is pushing 4 hours! To watch this in my HT was incredible.

I'd be surprised if many haven't seen this, but it is a masterpiece that must be experienced. Sergio Leone is singular in style with nothing remotely close to compare it to. The poor dubbing somehow add to the character of the film. The music is iconic.

Watched Thunderbirds Are Go (2015)
3.5/5 (amazon 4.2/5, imdb 6.8/10)
This is the CGI reboot of the 1960s television series by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson
This two DVD set has season 1, the first 13 episodes
A few minor quibbles: the music isn't as good and even wrong in spots, Tin Tin has been replaced by Tanusha and given a ship with a letter instead of a number, and something's happened to (father) Jeff Tracy and he's missing.
The new series is set in 2060 after a disaster in 2040; whereas the 1960s series was set in 2065 -- which makes the disappearance of Jeff odd
The episodes are half an hour long instead of an hour, which makes them more action packed and less drama story
The nature has changed a bit to conform to the new child standards, such as they don't carry sidearms any more.
TB-1 always blows the deckchairs around when it takes off, much to the annoyance of Grandma Tracy, who has to straighten them each time. The running gag is her bad cooking of burnt cookies.
I didn't find the bass to be as solid as the original series, particularly in the intro theme TB1 take off -- but when the show gets going there is a little bass.
But overall there's enough familiarity to the original to make it an enjoyable time. I binge watched them all over two days.

The new Thunderbird 2 Supersize toy looks neat -- currently sold out.

An amateur built the Ark. Titanic was built by professionals. Of course Noah took a little advice.

Watched Chappie (2015)
2.5/5 (amazon 3.4/5 even distribution, imdb 7/10, Rotten Tomatoes 31%/59%, AVS Ralph Potts 2.5/5)
Stars the voice of Sharlto Copley, famous for District 9 (2009)
Written by Neill Blomkamp, famous for District 9 (2009) -- so it has a bit of a similar feel to watching District 9. The script was okay, but nothing spectacular.
Overall it was a bit disappointing. Unlikeable characters, nonsensical motivation/behavior and sloppy narrative. Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver had bit parts and characters without any depth, and didn't really do much. But if you like robots its worth a watch.
The Mad Max style degenerate trash running the South African underground are the main part of the story, and are not enough to build it into something more.
Dev Patel, best known as the computer geek on Newsroom, is a computer geek in this movie who wants to create a sentient robot, from a damaged robot that had been on policing duties.

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In the near future, South African crime is patrolled by an oppressive mechanized police force. But now, the people are fighting back. When one police droid, Chappie, is stolen and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself. As powerful, destructive forces start to see Chappie as a danger to mankind and order, they will stop at nothing to maintain the status quo and ensure that Chappie is the last of his kind. ... “A machine that can feel and think. He can outsmart the enemy and free us all.” In the future all law enforcement is handled by robots. Deon (Patel) wants to make a self conscious robot that can feel, think and act on its own. When his company turns him down he thinks his dream is over, but when Chappie is stolen he finally gets his chance. When the corrupt general Vincent (Jackman) finds this out he finally gets his chance to unleash his own weapon on the world.

An amateur built the Ark. Titanic was built by professionals. Of course Noah took a little advice.

Ex Machina
3.5/5 (amazon 4/5, imdb 7.8/10, rotten tomatoes 92%, AVS Ralph Potts: 4/5
Good movie
A young programmer is selected to participate in a ground-breaking experiment in artificial intelligence by evaluating the human qualities of a breath-taking female A.I.
It makes you ask some questions, during the film, and afterwards. (unlike say Danger Man tv show 1965)
"To escape, she'd have to use self-awareness, imagination, manipulation, sexuality, and empathy"
Actress Alicia Vikander plays Ava the robot. A trained ballet dancer, her every motion, from head shifts, to hand shifts, to sitting on her heels, are all beautiful and sensual.
The robot has supposedly been trained by reading 'google searches' -- no wonder she's suspicious and inhuman. 'google searches' don't represent who we are, our humanity. They represent what we don't know, or more current, it-bleeds-it-leads, events.
The robot is surrounded by a paranoid owner, and a paranoid tester, and no big surprise she's also paranoid. Given that, the ending isn't surprising at all.
The robot is visually spectacular CGI
The plot and the script, are both very good. Perhaps erudite.
It's almost a detective movie, but instead of 'who done it' it is a 'will they do it'. Intriguing characters, where you're trying to figure out what they're really thinking -- and they're all liars.
Female nudity is prominent, perhaps gratuitous. Ultimately too much for me to offer this film to my elders.

An amateur built the Ark. Titanic was built by professionals. Of course Noah took a little advice.

Watched The Hit Girl (2013)
2/5 (amazon 4.4/5, imdb 7.8/10)
Not to be confused with Kick Ass I or Kick Ass II. Low budget film. Shot in color.
In the tradition of Freaky Friday (1976/2003, A mother and daughter find their personalities switched and have to live each other's lives on one strange Friday), The Hit Girl (2013) tells the tale of a government hit man who's awkwardly worded wish ends up turning him into a teenage girl.
Bill, a slightly quirky, 230 pound 6'4", clandestine operative is sent out on a mission to his old hometown. He stops in to visit his sister, Elizabeth, and his timid, movie quoting niece, Suzy, before pursing his latest assignment and while he's there he encounters a magical statue that transforms him into a teenage girl, similar to the Greek myth of Tiresias. Wishing to keep his transformation a secret from his sister and the world at large, Bill confides in Suzy about his sudden change and she agrees to help him. Renamed Jessica, "she" now has to deal not only with all the problems that being a teenage girl brings, she also must complete her latest mission, as a 5' 100 pound girl with no arm strength. A mission which is made more dangerous now that her target has begun kidnapping teenage girls. Jessica, with Suzy's help, must overcome all of the obstacles that stand in her way while trying to find a way to return to her original form - if that is even possible.
Bill (James Castle Stevens) is a hit man. He’s a big, strong guy and he kills people that need killin’…for money. Underneath all that though, he’s just a big softy when it comes to his sister Elizabeth (Sharon Gibson) and his niece Suzy (Jessamyn Arnstein). After her father took off, Bill had been more of a father to Jessamyn than her own real father ever had been, and they had a really close relationship, which included a mutual love of film.
When he’s sent to kill a scumbag strip club owner who’s into drug dealing and kidnapping young girls to trade to people he owes money to, Bill stops in to have dinner with his sister and niece and ends up spending the night. Now here’s what happened. His sister had some antiquities stored at home temporarily because they didn’t have room for them where she worked, and one of these was a statue of a goddess holding up scales. Well, when Elizabeth got called out to work, Bill stayed to watch Suzy for the evening, and while they were talking about all the problems teenage girls have, Bill just happened to have his hand on the statue when he mentioned that he wished that he had the problems of a teenage girl. Well that was a mistake, because the scales unbalanced when he said it, and sure enough, the next morning, he woke up as teenage girl, and they ended up deciding to call him Jessica (Ella Celina Bowen). Now he and Suzy have to figure out how it happened, and how to change him back to his old self, while at the same time, figuring out how he’s not only going to fit in as a teenage girl, but also how he’s going to complete his contract, since he’s no longer the big, strong guy he used to be.
The first fifteen minutes of the film are of Bill going to work. The next forty minutes are of the initial transformation, and I found a little slow and even ridiculous in spots. The last half hour picked up, especially the hand-to-hand combat between the little woman and some very big bad guys, whom she gut punched repeatedly and completely uselessly for comedic effect. In the end the bad guy gets his, which has an unfortunate effect on the magic -- unless you're rooting for a sequel.
All of the male characters (except two) are named after characters portrayed by the actor Nathan Fillion, who writer/director James A. Ward happens to be a big fan of.
All of the female characters are named after characters portrayed by actress Jessica Harper, who writer/director James A. Ward is a big fan. The name of The Hit Girl herself, "Jessica", comes from his admiration of Jessica Harper.

An amateur built the Ark. Titanic was built by professionals. Of course Noah took a little advice.